Dufferin County wants better weather predictions for its farmers

Oct 19, 2017

Amaranth Council sent a letter to the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change

By Diego Flammini
News Reporter
Farms.com

A southern Ontario town council is expressing concern over Environment and Climate Change Canada’s weather predicting service.

“An erosion of weather forecasting accuracy” by the Meterological Service of Canada is the subject of a letter from Dufferin County to the federal Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, according to the Orangeville Banner.

And some farmers have abandoned long-range forecasts altogether, according to Don MacIver, Mayor of Amaranth Township.

“We count on our long-range forecasts and when I say we, I’m talking about farmers,” he told the Orangeville Banner on Oct. 16. “They just don’t trust it. They don’t look at it anymore (and) I don’t think we should sit idly by and take what is given to us. I think we should be asking for a much better service.”

But as farmers know, Mother Nature can be fickle – especially during the summer, according to Geoff Coulson, warning preparedness meteorologist for Environment Canada.

In the winter, in contrast, predicting the weather appears to be easier.

“As it gets closer to that (summer) day, the chance of some local instability can be introduced into the forecast as the actual day approaches,” he told the Orangeville Banner. “(In the winter,) we can see these things coming great distances away.”

Amaranth Council also agreed to send the letter to Ontario’s Ministry of Agriculture, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) and the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario.

Farms.com has reached out to Amaranth Mayor Don MacIver and the OFA for further comment on the letter and its specific concerns.

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